Telemundo okays five new novelas

UPFRONTS: Telemundo in the US will turn out five new telenovelas and two new daytime series for its 2013-14 season, the Spanish-language network said today.

The channel’s season will include more than 1,000 hours of new content, said execs, including a second season of its singing competition La Voz Kids (The Voice Kids).

The new telenovelas are:

• Dama y Obrero (Lady & The Worker), about a young bride torn between two men;
• La Impostora (The Imposter), about an actress hired to pose as a wealthy investor;
• Reina de Corazones (Queen of Hearts), about a newlywed with amnesia;
• Santa Diabla (working title, Holy Devil), about a widow out for revenge; and
• Camelia la Tejana (Camelia the Texan), a period piece about drug cartels in the 1970s.

The latter series will see two well-known musicians compete head-to-head through various challenges and sing-offs, with the audience voting for the winner.

Parent company Telemundo Media revealed the plans for its flagship network and one day ahead of tomorrow’s official upfront.

Telemundo Media “is committed to being the best Spanish-language media company in the US and the number one producer and distributor of original Spanish-language content in the world,” said president Emilio Romano.

The network is also developing two projects, revealed last week, at its new LA studio Flunecy: the romantic comedy La Buena Mala (The Good Bad One) and the sci-fi coming-of-age tale ISA.

Plans for Telemundo’s youth-aimed specialty spin-off, Mun2, revealed last month, include the docu-series Viva Los Vargas, Reinas de Reality and Horoscopos. The channel also renewed its weekly music show Reventon.

The network saw a shake-up among its upper ranks earlier this year, with the arrival of Jesus Torres Viera as its new executive VP of programming and content and, higher up, former Univision boss Joe Uva’s installation as head of Hispanic content.

Telemundo is foremost among the many challengers to Univsion’s hegemony in the US Hispanic market and looks to be bulking up for more aggressive moves.

The network’s “momentum in the marketplace is undeniable and given the unprecedented growth of the Hispanic audience, we see only a robust future for our content and for our clients,” said chief operating officer Jackie Hernandez.